


Hey, Remember the Midlands?

by PrinxOfTheFlamingHeart



Category: The Two Princes (Podcast)
Genre: Let’s face it this is an awkward dinner conversation, M/M, discussions of Genocide, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24751984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinxOfTheFlamingHeart/pseuds/PrinxOfTheFlamingHeart
Summary: Amir and Rupert have a conversation with their mothers about the Midlands. How much did they know and when?Post Season 2
Relationships: Prince Amir/Prince Rupert (Two Princes Podcast)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 47





	Hey, Remember the Midlands?

Conflict used to make Rupert’s stomach turn. Given everything he’d gone through after just three months of relative peace, it was a small miracle he hadn’t developed several ulcers. Thankfully their travel rations had been bland, unlike the spicy dishes of the East that Rupert was now addicted to. His stomach hardened to the new additions to his diet as his resolve had hardened following the Chadtastrophe and Malkia’s subsequent surrender. Yet Malkia and even Chad didn’t quite have the same effect on him as his mother.

Rupert pushed himself away from his desk and knocked on the adjoining door to Amir’s room. While they shared a bed, they alternated _which_ bed they shared as their schedules and feelings allowed. It hadn’t taken long for both princes to realize they needed their own space for alone time and it seemed to be a habit that would follow them into marriage.

“Come in, Thief,” Amir called. Rupert shook his head and opened the door.

“Well, Princey. I have to say I like this,” Rupert admitted, taking in the view.

Amir was stretched out on the floor, shirtless, clearly in the middle of some kind of exercise. He lifted his head and winked at Rupert. “If a certain thief would stop stealing my shirts—“

“Oh come on, you have _plenty_ of shirts—“ Rupert retorted.

Amir knelt up and shook his head. “Do we want to go over who’s closet is bigger?”

Rupert sighed. “You know how my mother obsesses over clothes.”

“Your mother isn’t here,” Amir countered, standing up and grabbing Rupert. The kiss that followed made Rupert forget that Amir’s sweat was now all over his court clothes.

“Yet!” Rupert said as they came up for air. “She arrives today, though!”

“Joan will tell us when our mothers arrive,” Amir said, dismissively. Rupert caught a twinkle in his eyes as Amir scanned him from head to toe. “But we should change now while we can. You’re very sweaty.”

Rupert slapped Amir’s chest playfully. “Yeah. Your sweat!” Heading back to his room, Rupert called over his shoulder. “Hey, what outfit says, ‘we need to talk about that country that disappeared before we were born?’”

Rupert made it to the door and turned around. Amir’s silence sometimes spoke louder than his words. “Amir?”

“Malkia and Upendo were tricked into having their kingdom destroyed. I wouldn’t say it ‘disappeared.’” Amir’s expression was closed off and cold.

It was a conversation they’d had more than a few times since breaking Malkia’s spell. One they would have with their mothers shortly. Rupert squared himself in the doorway and nodded. “You’re right. It’s not comfortable and it won’t be until we talk to them. I’m sorry for trying to diffuse this with humor. It was inappropriate.”

Amir crossed to Rupert and grabbed his hands. Pressing his lips to them, Amir seemed to come back to himself. “I’m sorry too. I just get so angry whenever I think about what our fathers took from the Midlands, our mothers, and us. And that mother never mentioned it in all of my lessons.”

Rupert flipped their hands over and returned Amir’s kiss with his own. “There must be a reason. My mother lied to me too. For eighteen years. And she never prepared me for the prophecy like yours did.”

Amir let their hands fall. “You can always trust a liar to lie. It’s the honest person who surprises you when they fail to be honest.”

Rupert reached up to cup Amir’s cheek in one hand. “She’s human. They both are. They’ve apologized so much. Let’s try not to make them feel too bad about themselves.”

Amir mirrored Rupert with his opposite hand. Leaning in, they pressed their foreheads together. “This isn’t about us or them. It’s about the Midlands. And how to honor those who are gone.”

They separated with wistful glances and got ready for their mothers’ arrival. Rupert slipped off the slightly damp court clothes and changed into something simpler. Reminiscent of the outfit he wore in the hollow, although in significantly better shape than the poor outfit Joan gave him before he left the West on Euripides.

Amir tried not to think of himself as armoring up for a conflict. Queen Atossa was a shrewd opponent who played her cards close to her chest at all times. He reminded himself of _The Phoenix_. Atossa had developed an imposing looking airship and kept her plan for peace to herself right up until he left a month early to get to the Hollow of the Kings. No matter how much she shared and taught him there was always more to her than he knew. As he slipped on an Eastern tunic and trews he wondered idly if he’d ever know his mother completely.

Joan and Cecily arrived to Amir and Rupert’s room respectively. The princes met again in the hallway and embraced. Rupert held Amir’s hand as Joan led the way, Cecily bringing up the rear. As they walked to the Royal Family Dining Room, Rupert glanced back at Cecily. She smiled and waved, Rupert only just managed to catch the glint of steel on her wrist. Rupert returned the smile, knowing that if Joan allowed Cecily to wear it on duty, their plan to have Joan teach Cecily knife-throwing was a success.

As they came to a stop in front of the doors, Cecily slipped to the front. At Amir’s nod, Joan and Cecily opened the double doors. Rupert squeezed Amir’s hand before he let go. Amir recaptured the hand, surprising Rupert with his show of affection and with his tight grip.

Their mothers stood as they entered. The table was wide enough on one end to allow both princes to sit at the head. Atossa crossed to sit close to Amir as Lavinia did to sit by Rupert. It was a formal sort of dance, but one they’d grown used to.

Amir spoke first. “I hope your trips here went smoothly?”

Atossa smiled and nodded as the waiting staff began their meal service. “As dusty and dirty as usual but rather enjoyable all things considered. The roads have improved vastly.”

Lavinia nodded her agreement as she dipped her hands in the finger bowl. “The roads could only improve, given the usual state of travel between our lands.”

Atossa snorted as she wiped her hands. “By ‘usual state of travel’ I trust you mean war-chariot?”

Lavinia scrunched her nose. “Yes well some of us have formed habits of speaking our way around unpleasantness. I suppose that’s one art you still don’t teach in the East.”

Rupert rolled his eyes. “Mo-om.”

Atossa sat back as the servants brought out the appetizers. “I teach my people to be direct when they speak to me. I don’t ban ‘speaking of unpleasantness’ as you call it in the West.”

Rupert and Amir took turns feeding each other stuffed grapes and flatbread points with tzatziki. As much as the two women admired each other, there would seemingly always be a playful cattiness between them.

Amir declined the grape Rupert held and spoke up. “Well, as my mother taught me to be direct. I’ll come out and ask it. Hey, remember the Midlands?”

The playful air was sucked from the room. The sudden change even stilled the bustling staff, causing one waiter to bump into another and upend a set of glasses. The resulting crash distracted everyone for a moment. Rupert left the table to check on the waiters. When Rupert returned, both queens eyes were on Amir.

For his part, Amir appeared nonchalant. Rupert noticed a tightness in his jaw and his hands clenched under the table, but Amir’s tone was light. “We’ve had quite the experience with a certain Queen of the Midlands. Did you ever meet her?”

“Malkia,” Lavinia said quietly. “Her younger sister was quite a wild one. They kept peace in the Midlands. Our first and last summit took place there.”

Atossa nodded, pushing her plate back. “It was a smaller kingdom than either of ours but well guarded by its queen. Malkia attempted to broker peace between all three lands. But, at the first sign of her power...”

“Our husbands were threatened,” Lavinia said, completing the thought but setting aside her food as well. Picking up her wine goblet, she drank deeply. Rupert winced at her expression. “A strong woman. Confident. Capable. Of course they were threatened before she did any of her magic tricks.”

Atossa sipped her own wine before sighing. “The threat united the two kings, briefly. They plotted her downfall under the guise of trade talks. Only when their verbal weapons were most sharpened did they hone in on their prey. Princess Upendo.”

“It was such a shameful ruse. They let us keep Malkia busy as they ran about whispering their lies into a poor girl’s ears,” Lavinia said, turning to thank the servant bringing in her soup.

“You distracted Malkia?” Rupert asked.

“We didn’t know. We had no idea what our husbands were up to until much later. Devious bastards!” Atossa stirred her soup listlessly.

“Malkia did try and teach us a few things about being queens. We were both shocked she didn’t have a husband.” Lavinia turned to Atossa. “Did you ever repeal your laws governing succession?”

“It took some time convincing my nobles but yes. Women can ascend to the throne without marriage. Did you?” Atossa asked.

“It never came up,” Lavinia said with a shrug.

Rupert turned to Amir. “Did we ever think about succession?”

“Oh now there’s a subject I’d much rather discuss. When are we getting a grandchild?” Lavinia asked, setting her spoon aside and wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Mom! We’re talking about why you never mentioned an entire country disa— destroyed by our fathers.” Rupert fixed his mother in his best imitation of her gaze.

Lavinia looked away first. “Well, I’ve never told you much about anything have I?”

Rupert looked down at his hands. “Mom, that’s not...” But his denial died in his throat. It _was_ true.

“Mother?” Amir asked.

Atossa sat as pristinely as ever, her face giving little away. Her nerves showed in her hands, though. She set her spoon down and folded her hands on the table. “I tried to teach you everything you’d need to know to break the curse.”

“And after the curse was broken?” Amir asked.

“I was preoccupied with teaching you that which would inspire you to do the most good. The Midland was gone. Their history, their culture, their entire population destroyed. Reduced to the same ash as their buildings. What could I teach you of them besides letting you know what fools we all were to hope for peace?” Atossa let the tears fall onto her hands.

Lavinia dabbed her eyes with a napkin. Dinner was served around them as they sat in silence.

Rupert looked at Lavinia again. She faced him, seemingly encouraging him to speak. Perhaps even to change the subject, but Rupert couldn’t relent. “You let us build our kingdom on the bones of another?”

Lavinia looked upwards but let her eyes fall back to her plate. Finally she spoke. “With how much had changed, the very forest itself reformed, it was impossible to know where the Midland kingdom had been. The map we had of the Forbidden Forest cost more than enough lives to create. But nothing matched with what we had before. Mountains where a lake had been. A lake where a village was. Thorns and huge bugs and monstrous plants. And a Hollow where two kings became trees.”

Amir’s eyes were glued on Atossa. “We will remember the Midlands. Malkia and Upendo left; their culture and history and people are gone. But we must remember them somehow. You both knew of the Midlands. And if there are any other kingdoms you think we should know about, or lost civilizations or so much as a forgotten branch of the family tree we are both trusting you to tell us their stories. Even and especially if you regret their loss.”

“I understand. And, for what it’s worth given how often I’ve said it, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Atossa said. “I believe that is all I can bear for one night. The travel and the topic have exhausted me. By your leave?”

Amir stood, Rupert following. Lavinia and Atossa stepped away from the table. Their sons surprised them by meeting them at their sides.

Amir embraced Atossa. “I never expected you to be perfect. But I never expected you to leave anything out of my training.”

“Learn from me, then. Sometimes forgiving yourself can be hard but it can also blind you if you forget to honor the lessons of the past. When you speak of the tragedy of the Midlands remember to call it what it was. A genocide. A horror so great it cursed two foolish kingdoms.”

Amir nodded. “I will.”

Rupert reached for his mother’s hands. She placed hers in his. “You’re going to want me to write down something about my experiences with the Midlands, aren’t you?”

He nodded “It’s important to remember what built this kingdom.”

She shook her head and squeezed his hands. “What built this kingdom is the love between two princes. Don’t let your fathers tarnish that.”

Rupert shrugged. “We can’t let ourselves forget what our fathers did either. I never want that mistake repeated. We will have to be careful in how we choose our successor. They need to know what it takes to be good leaders and good people.”

“They’ll have two good teachers, then.”

“Four,” Rupert corrected.

“I think we both know how good I am at teaching children,” Lavinia said, releasing his hands.

Rupert folded his arms. “You taught me to be a better king than my father ever was.”

Lavinia rolled her eyes. “I think you learned all that in spite of me, not because of me.”

“Well, then let me learn something from you.” At Lavinia’s questioning glance, he mimed writing with his hands. She looked up again, but nodded finally. “Also you’re totally just going to dictate it to Lord Chamberlain aren’t you?”

Lavinia embraced him. “You know me so well!” As she leaned back to face him, she held his shoulders. “Oh if only I hadn’t told Chamberlain to burn the Forbidden Book! Could’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

“You told him to do what?” Rupert asked, incredulous.


End file.
